Constant Mews: Difference between revisions

Constant Mews (born 1953), D. Phil (Oxon) is Professor of Medieval Thought, Director, Centre for Studies in Religion and Theology, Monash University, Melbourne. He is an authority on medieval religious thought, especially on the medieval philosopher and theologian, Peter Abelard) and on interfaith dialogue.

Early life

Mews was born in England and educated at St Peter's College, Auckland, New Zealand. He won the Trenwith Cup for History at St Peter's College in 1971.

Letters of Abelard and Heloise

At the heart of the drama is an obscure Latin text that some scholars say contains the long lost love letters written by the ill-fated pair. Others say the correspondence is fake.

The illicit liaison between Abelard, an up and coming 12th century philosopher, and the gifted young woman he tutored, shocked medieval Europe not least for its gruesome end.

Abelard was castrated on the orders of Heloise's uncle after she became pregnant with his child.

Translated for the first time into French, their publication this month has revived the scandal and divided historians in France and abroad.

Feelings ran high at a seminar in Paris where believers tried to convince skeptics the attribution is right.

"I don't think everyone in the room was convinced," said historian Sylvain Piron, who translated the correspondence, after a long day's debate on the subject.

"Some still believe it's a faked or forged collection."

Constant Mews, director of theological studies at Australia's Monash University, first came across the letters in a volume edited by the German Ewald Koensgen in 1974. The letters, ascribed simply to a man and woman, survived because a 15th century monk copied them for an anthology.

Mews spent two decades studying Abelard's philosophy before finally making his claim: that the 113 letters -- the longest known correspondence from medieval times -- were written by Abelard and Heloise.

SCANDAL AND PASSION

News of what scholars call the most famous scandal of 12th century France spread through contemporary Europe by word of mouth, in poetry and in the songs of troubadours.

Until Mews' work, their story was known to today's historians mainly through the letters they exchanged from their monasteries of exile, some 15 years after the events.

Abelard, 37 when he met Heloise, had a growing reputation as a scholar that prompted her uncle Fulbert, a canon at Notre Dame cathedral, to hire him to tutor his niece.

Heloise, about 20 and with a literary reputation of her own, was being educated with a view to becoming an abbess. Among the rare female authors of medieval times, she argued with passion that erotic love is compatible with friendship and God.

As their liaison grew and was consummated, Heloise conceived Abelard's child. She called her son Pierre Astrolabe, after the astronomer's instrument, to give them bearings for their love.

A furious Fulbert forced Abelard to marry her. Abelard agreed to marry in secret to minimize the damage to his career and to live apart.

After the wedding Fulbert, thinking Abelard was about to renege on the agreement, sent his henchmen to wreak revenge.

Abelard and Heloise lived separate religious lives until his death in 1142. Heloise, remembered as a symbol of tragic love, lived another 22 years and was just over 70 when she died.

In one of the letters ascribed to Heloise, she writes: "I prefer to be confined by the threat of death rather than live and be deprived of the sweet-flowing joy of the sight of you."

The pair are buried together in Paris's Pere Lachaise cemetery.

FACT OR FICTION?

Scholars who support the authenticity case say all the evidence in and around the text points to Abelard and Heloise. Opponents say that is too simple and want definitive proof.

They reject accusations of tunnel vision and deny they are motivated by professional envy at not having got there first.

"It's not jealousy, it's a question of method," said Monique Goullet, director of research in medieval Latin at Paris's Sorbonne University.

"If we had proof that it was Abelard and Heloise then everyone would calm down. But the current position among literature scholars is that we are shocked by too rapid an attribution process."

After years of research, Mews is all the more convinced.

"The first time I encountered the words and ideas they sent a shiver down my spine. Unfortunately, that has been attacked as evidence of an emotional response," he said. "There has been some very quick stereotyping of other people's arguments."

Most Latin experts agree the document is authentic and of great literary worth, but its uniqueness makes some scholars suspicious.

"The most probable explanation is that it is a literary work written by one person who decided to reconstitute the writings of Abelard and Heloise," Goullet said.

Others say it was a stylistic exercise between two students who imagined themselves as the lovers, or that it was written by another couple.

Notes

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